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List of contents
Introduction 1. Why Talk about Slacking? 2. What Are the Different Types of Slackers? 3. Are Hollywood Slackers Full-Fledged Slackers? 4. How Do You Spot an Academic Slacker? 5. Is Slacking Morally Bad? 6. What if Everyone Were a Slacker? 7. Do Slackers Have an Identity Crisis? The Pandemic Slacker
About the author
Alison Suen is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Iona College, New York. She is the author of The Speaking Animal: Ethics, Language and the Human-Animal Divide (2015) and the volume editor of Response Ethics (2018).
Summary
Suen critically interrogates our disapproval of slackers, offering taxonomy of slackers, analyzing objections to slacking, and argues against those objections. She does not promote slacking as the key to something better but argues that slacking is unique precisely because it serves no noble cause.
Additional text
"Alison Suen’s brilliant treatise on slacking is the best philosophy book I’ve read in a long time. Highly original, wickedly funny, wonderfully insightful, and full of gems, this little book delves into what it takes to be a slacker. Staying true to what she sees as the essential purposelessness and indifference of slacking, Suen concludes that it’s okay—but just okay—to be a slacker. The last chapter on pandemic slacking then and now (1918 Spanish Flu and Coronavirus) is dazzling. Treat yourself to Why It’s OK to be a Slacker, a thoroughly enjoyable and deeply thoughtful read."Kelly Oliver, Vanderbilt University
"Why It’s OK to Be a Slacker is a true pleasure to read! I had no idea that slacking could be such a philosophically fascinating topic before reading this book. Written in her characteristically witty and incisive prose, Suen’s taxonomy of true and pseudo slackers is brilliant and entertaining, with particular attention to the profiles of academic slackers. Her defense, without endorsement, of the right to slack is equally original and compelling. Timely and distinct from the philosophical literature on leisure, Suen’s book analyzes the most contemporary methods of apathetic under-achieving, and concludes with a chapter on slackerdom during Covid-19."Chloë Taylor, University of Alberta
"Few characters are more maligned today than the slacker. In a culture where we define ourselves by what we do and where productivity gurus have co-opted leisure itself, Suen demonstrates why we should give slacking a chance. In her lively, sharply argued book, she deftly analyzes the nature of slacking, explains why many of our misgivings against slackers are misconceived, and invites us to see the slacker without a cause in a new light."Alex Sager, Portland State University
"Why It’s OK to Be a Slacker is well argued and highly entertaining. At a time when we are obsessed with conventional metrics of success and productivity, Suen’s arguments on why slacking is acceptable provide interesting and useful balance."Emily Esfahani Smith, author of The Power of Meaning
